Lumpkin County, Ga- In the Dahlonega City Council special called meeting on Monday, May 17, the council approved two items on their agenda the intergovernmental agreement and the re-ratification of the Yahoola Creek Management Plan.

Also, the council discussed Ordinance 2021-01 and a proposal for the use of property 147 N Park by a local business owner. The last thing brought before the council was Dahlonega’s low number of Covid-19 vaccinations.

The intergovernmental agreement allows the county of Lumpkin to handle the upcoming elections for the Dahlonega city council. The initial cost for the county to do this is $10,000. During the discussion of this agreement Councilman Johnny Ariemma questioned if there would be a three-day qualifying period again or would it be changed to five.  County Clerk Mary Csukas confirmed, “At this time it would remain three days.” The vote was unanimous on this item.

The second agenda item was the re-ratification of the Yahoola Creek Management Plan. This was ratified a second time due to some changes in the paperwork. The changes to the document according to Mayer Sam Norton were as follows, “on II changing the date to April 16, 2021, page 19 modify the admin to 10029, and lastly on page 22 insert 2021.” This is the plan that is going to allow the city to open the reservoir open for swimming, it was also a unanimous vote.

Also discussed during the meeting was Ordinance 2021-01 which if approved would give the city council the right to decide if franchises could operate in the town square. The ordinance has been unanimously vetted by the Planning Commission and will be voted on by the city council at the June 7 meeting. If passed, this would be the first of its kind in Georgia.

City Manager Bill Schmid did clarify, “This gives the council rights to set rules for the performance and does not ban franchises altogether.”

Local business owner Joe Mirakovits proposed use for the property at 147 N Park. Hee believes his proposal would open up about 150 new places to park, along with more opportunities for restaurants, retail establishments, and in-town high-end condos. The council took no action on this plan and moved it till another meeting in the future.

Lastly, Councilman Joel Cordle brought to the council’s attention the low number of Covid-19 vaccinations among Dahlonega residents. According to Cordle the city is only at 20% and has been stuck there for the past two weeks. He also informed the council that the sheriff has started a campaign to let citizens know where to go for the vaccine.

Councilwoman Joanne Taylor stated, ” The New York Times has listed Lumpkin county as a high risk for the spread area.”

All members were in agreement that they needed to get the numbers up past 20%. The vaccine is available at the health department for free at this time.